It may be winter outside, but now’s the time to spring into planning warm-weather local events that promote Hard Hats for Little Heads – the Texas Medical Association’s longest running outreach program encouraging helmet use for all wheeled activities, including biking, skateboarding, and riding scooters.
Spring is a great time for Hard Hats events because they naturally lead to outdoor get-togethers like health fairs and spring festivals. This time of year also includes observances that make it easier to raise the subject of helmets for children, such as Texas Child Safety Month in April and Bike Month in May.
Hard Hats has given away 375,000 helmets since its launch in 1994.
Arranging events often requires lining up partners as well. For example, students at The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) School of Medicine at Galveston on March 4 will partner with Galveston College and L.A. Morgan Elementary School in Galveston to hold a health fair. The activities – aside from fitting children with free safety helmets – will include a chef making a healthy snack, nursing students taking blood pressure, and a kinesiology team practicing yoga.
“We wanted to tie our health and medical science theme with our partners,” said second-year UTMB medical student Anthony Price.
TMA’s Hard Hats for Little Heads is funded in 2023 by the Texas Medical Association Foundation with major support from an anonymous TMA/TMA Alliance member donor couple; Texas Academy of Family Physicians; Texas Neurological Society; and gifts from physicians and their families. The program’s motto – “Get Moving. Stay Safe. Wear a Helmet” – helps point out that making activities like biking and skating safer is fun and naturally encourages outdoor activity.
TMA and the other medical organizations that help fund Hard Hats make obtaining the helmets simple and relatively inexpensive.
TMA helmets – which run $25 retail – cost members $12 each, including shipping. TMA also has a matching program. For the first 50 helmets bought, TMA provides another 50 helmets. For all helmets bought after that, TMA continues to match them on a percentage basis.
That match is especially useful for members of the Texas College of Emergency Physicians, Texas Neurological Society, Texas Pediatric Society, and Texas Academy of Family Physicians, who can get 25 helmets paid for by their organizations. With the TMA match, they can receive 50 helmets with no out-of-pocket costs.
For more information, email Tammy Wishard or call her at (512) 370-1470.